I feel I need to write a review to balance up the others on this page. Although I would not claim that this is a literary classic that you will compare all your future reads to, it is a very well written and interesting novel. The characters form an interesting microcosm of 1950s society on the verge of the end of repression. The idea of people hoping that immersing themselves in a seemingly idyllic retreat next to a convent, where the nuns’ pure lifestyle may rub off on them, is a fascinating concept and the unexpected fast paced ending all make for a good read. Above all this book shows that Murdoch was very intelligent and a highly skilled writer who could create stories that were enjoyable and diverting.

I really didn’t like this book at all, disappointing.

A lay community is attached to an Abbey. Proximity to the order of enclosed nuns is meant to heighten the titillation quotient. There are errant wives possibly returning to pre-occupied husbands, love triangles, twins, adolescent confusion about the first steps of love, a swirl of homosexuality is in the mix. There are failed priests and schoolboy misunderstandings. Everyone is off balance. People can’t decide where they stand or if they stand. I guess it’s meant to be unnerving and that you’re not supposed to like the characters.

All this sounds vaguely promising but there is neither comedy nor manners, nor much of anything.